Damage Assessment Supports Request Submitted to President Obama to Obtain Assistance for Hunterdon, Mercer, Passaic, Sussex and Warren
Trenton, NJ – ActingGovernor Kim Guadagno today announced that the State is seeking a Major Disaster Declaration, including a request for Public Assistance, for five New Jersey counties most impacted by heavy rain storms and flooding associated with Tropical Storm Lee. The storm conditions arose on September 6 in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Irene, included heavy rainfall in areas around the state, and resulted in significant flooding along parts of the Passaic, Pompton and Delaware Rivers. In response to the situation, the Christie Administration took action under state law, including the issuance of a Statewide Emergency declaration on August 25 for Hurricane Irene that remained in effect through Tropical Storm Lee and the Christie Administration continued to coordinate sheltering efforts, resource requests and evacuation efforts throughout the state.
“I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that an effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and the affected local governments and that supplementary federal assistance is necessary. This series of rain related events commencing on August 14, 2011 followed by Hurricane Irene and culminating in Tropical Storm Lee have put a severe strain on state, county and local budgets,” wrote Acting Governor Guadagno.
Immediately following this storm and continuing through yesterday, a joint preliminary damage assessment (PDA) was undertaken between FEMA and state and local emergency management officials to establish that the state and counties had qualified for disaster assistance. The PDA indicated that the most severely impacted areas of the state, which qualify under Federal standards for a Major Disaster Declaration, are: Hunterdon, Mercer, Passaic, Sussex and Warren Counties. This request revises a September 9, 2011 request for a statewide Major Disaster Declaration, following the specific findings of the PDA. “Therefore, I respectively request at this time a Major Disaster Declaration for the counties of Hunterdon, Mercer, Passaic, Sussex and Warren Counties,” wrote Acting Governor Guadagno.
A letter outlining the State’s Public Assistance request was sent to President Barack Obama through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. A copy of the letter is attached to the release.
Politickernj and the Star Ledger are reporting that the three judge panel of the Third District Court Federal Appeals Court reversed its earlier order that Carl Lewis be on the ballot as a State Senate candidate in the 8th legislative district.
Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, acting in her capacity as Secretary of State, had ordered Lewis off the ballot because he does not meet the state constitutional residency requirement. Today’s order affirms Guadagno’s position.
Politickernj said that the Democrats might make Lewis an Assembly candidate since the Assembly only has a two year residency requirement, compared to the Senate’s four year requirement.
U.S. District Court Judge Noel Hillman upheld Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno’s decision to keep former Olympic champion Carl Lewis off the general election ballot in NJ’s 8th legislative district. Lewis is the Democratic nominee for State Senate.
Guadagno, in her capacity as Secretary of State, ruled that he does not meet New Jersey’s residency requirement to run for the legislature.
Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno will be on the radio with NJ 101.5’s Jim Gearhart tomorrow morning at 7:35 AM and again with John Gambling on 710 AM at 8:05 AM.
Trenton, NJ – To support the recovery of New Jersey’s businesses and protect the overall economic interests of our state in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, Governor Chris Christie and Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno have announced a series of business assistance services for those affected by the storm. Among these vital services are those related to financial support, information on temporary space, and technical assistance for impacted businesses. Information for all services may be easily accessed through New Jersey’s Business Action Center (BAC), by calling 1-866-534-7789 or through the state’s business portal at www. nj.gov/njbusiness/, the “one-stop” shop for business resources.
“In response to this natural disaster, New Jersey has coordinated a range of multi-agency resources to assist impacted businesses and ensure they are operational quickly,” said Governor Christie. “We have worked hard to grow our state’s economy by working to meet the needs of our business community. Providing a thorough and inter-departmental business recovery assistance program is another demonstration of our support for our business community and their workers.”
“Through the collective efforts of the Partnership for Action, which includes the Business Action Center, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and Choose New Jersey, in addition to the Departments of Banking and Insurance, Community Affairs and Labor and Workforce Development, we will work to protect the assets of our state’s businesses, provide the necessary temporary support to our workforce and sustain our economic vibrancy,” said Lt. Governor Guadagno.
The business recovery assistance services are designed to support businesses and workers who may be temporarily unable to perform their jobs due to the storm. These services include:
·Access to lines of credit of up to $500,000 for businesses that need access to cash to improve their damaged property while awaiting insurance proceeds;
·Grant awards for businesses to assist with on-the-job training costs for new workers hired specifically to assist in disaster-related activities, such as landscaping and tree removal, construction, insurance claims, building supplies sales, materials transport, utility work, call and claims centers staffing, and infrastructure clearing and repair.
·Availability of the Business Resource Centers at any of the 17 local One-Stop Career Centers across the state as temporary hubs for businesses to access telephone and internet services as well as for job seekers and displaced workers seeking workforce development and unemployment assistance.
·The availability of Disaster Unemployment Benefits to provide income security for those displaced workers suffering temporary storm-related job loss.
·Dispatch of Rapid Response team members to identified Disaster Recovery Centers to assist displaced workers
·Availability of services through New Jersey Youth Corps to assist non-profit, public and governmental entities in a variety of ways for disaster relief and clean-up.
In addition, BAC’s Business Call Center is also the one-stop resource for more information on how to get businesses back up and running. The Call Center staff can assist with the following services:
·Arranging business facility inspections for buildings suffering major flood damage, as such conditions require structural integrity inspections before utility service can be restored. These inspections are handled in local code enforcement offices and by local code enforcement officials. Anticipating an enormous increase in such work, the Department of Community Affairs has mobilized all qualified personnel to assist local governments in this effort.
·Advocate for businesses seeking assistance from local utilities to restore electric, phone, gas and water services.
·Advocate with insurance carriers to file and expedite claims.
·Provide information on how to qualify for federal recovery assistance, and
·Connect businesses to the other county and local business services and to the services offered by the Small Business Administration and Small Business Development Centers that include assistance with insurance claims, as well as loans and business plan revisions.
For further information about best practices in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene, please visit www.ready.nj.gov for continual updates.
The earthquake and the coming hurricane kept Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno off the front pages this week despite the Governor’s press office’s best efforts to raise her public profile.
Yesterday, for the first time Guadagno, as Acting Governor with Christie out of the state, signed a bill into law. The press office issued as press release and a video. One of three videos of the LG released this week.
With Hurricane Irene coming, Governor Christie has shorten his vacation and will hold a hurricane preparedness press conference at noon. That is sure to overshadow Guadagno’s press conference at 3PM at Cargotec USA in Monroe.
Maybe the administration has decided it needs to do more to promote their pro-business and job growth efforts. Maybe Christie is getting ready to run for president and wants Guadagno to bet better known since she would be Acting Governor a great deal more often should that happen and Governor should he win. Maybe Guadagno will enter the race to take on U.S. Senator Robert Menendez .
Something has shifted, that’s for sure. It’s worth keeping an eye on.
The Star Ledger is reporting that the Treasury Department has initiated an investigation into sheriff’s officers in Essex, Monmouth and Union counties who are collecting pensions from the state Police and Firemen’s Retirement System (PFRS) whilecontinuing to perform as law enforcement officers, but with civilian titles, allowing them to “double dip”….collect a pension and a salary for job that would not allow for collecting a pension if it were properly classified.
In addition to the Treasury Department probe, John Scierchio, chairman of the PFRS board of trustees, has asked the Attorney General’s Office to launch a criminal probe into three sheriff’s officers suspected of circumventing pension guidelines, according to the StarLedger.
The three officers are Monmouth County undersheriff Mickey Donovan, formerly the chief warrant officer, Essex County chief warrant officer John Dough, and Union County sheriff’s chief Harold Gibson.
This issue was first raised publically regarding Donovan, who retired from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office in 2005 and was hired as Monmouth’s chief warant officer by then Monmouth County Sheriff, now Lt. Governor, Kim Guadagno in 2008, last October by NJ Watchdog.
NJ Watchdog alleges that Guadagno, as Sheriff, eliminated the chief warrant officer position on September 16, 2008, but then gave Donovan that title a week later, even though he was hired in reality to be the chief law enforcement officer, so that he could collect a pension of $85,000 per year and a salary of $87,500 per year.
In a piece published on April 11, 2011, NJ Watchdog says that Donovan has improperly collected $227,000 in pension payments since 2008. Additionally, he should have contributed $18,000 to the pension system, according to NJ Watchdog.
Guadagno declined to comment when MMM raised this issue with her when it became public in October.
Shaun Golden, then Acting Sheriff, told MMM in October that he had discussed Donovan’s employment status with state pension official months earlier and offered to make any changes they required. There were no changes required at the time. Golden said he told the officials that if they require changes in Monmoth County that they should also look into Essex and Union Counties.
Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, in her capacity as Secretary of State, has overturned an administrative judges ruling that former Olympian Carl Lewis meets the constitution requirements to run for state Senate.
Lewis and the Democratic party are likely to appeal Guadagno’s ruling to the State Appellate Court.
The Chris Christie for President buzz just won’t go away, no matter how strongly the governor declares he’s not running. Pretty soon the state police will consider putting Christie on a suicide watch.
Ann Coulter’s comment at CPAC…that the GOP either run Chris Christie or Mitt Romney will be the nominee and lose…has reignited the smoldering Christie for President banter.
In cable TV and radio interviews today, Coulter has said Christie is the only Republican who can defeat President Obama, and the governor would have her support even though she questions how conservative he is.
From the left, we have Star Ledger columnist Tom Moran, who helped make Christie a national figure with the famous, “You should see me when I’m really pissed” video. Moran wrote a piece for Sunday’s paper/website which was essentially a white flag of surrender from New Jersey’s Democratic establishment.
After comparing Christie to Oprah, detailing the powerful Democratic support Christie has won over in Hudson and Essex counties, and explaining how hopeless it has become for Trenton Democrats to oppose Christie’s reforms, Moran himself endorsed the Christie agenda:
He’s winning this argument because he’s right on the core issue — New Jersey has promised more than it can deliver. Governors all over the country, in both parties, are moving in the same direction out of necessity.
If Christie can win over Moran, maybe Coulter is right.
Perhaps the question should not be, “Is Chris Christie ready to be president?” as he repeatedly protests that he is not. Perhaps the question should be, “Is Kim Guadagno ready to be governor?”
